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Deon Grant says he could tell as the game wore on last week that the Packers receivers were thinking more self-protection than ball security.

“We were physical with them boys,’’ the veteran safety said yesterday. “Every time we had a chance to get our hands on ’em, we definitely took advantage of it. Every time I had a chance to hit somebody, I was trying to take their head off. They knew that.’’

Brandon Jacobs saw how 49ers safety Donte Whitner forced Saints running back Pierre Thomas out of the game last week with a blow to the head that was as vicious as it was damage-inducing. Jacobs wants some of that this weekend.

“To get knocked out that means they’re hitting you in the head,’’ Jacobs said. “I wish like hell one of them tries to hit me in my head, that means they’re staying up, they’re not hitting me in the legs. That was a helmet-to-helmet hit. I want one of those. Because that means they’re staying high, they’re not digging in the ground and trying to make tackles at your shoestring.’’

It’s called setting a tone.

Hit or be hit. The Giants believe they sent the 15-1, defending Super Bowl champion Packers an early message last week that this was going to be a 60-minute slugfest. The result was a shocking 37-20 victory at Lambeau Field.

The 49ers unquestionably delivered the initial blows in their 36-32 upset of the Saints, causing turnovers and surging to a 17-0 lead that revved up the home crowd at Candlestick Park and forced the Saints to play from behind most of the day.

What happens at the start of Sunday’s NFC Championship Game will not automatically determine what the result is at the end, but there is no doubt the Giants are looking to do what they’ve done in the playoffs: Start fast, finish faster. They did not do that the first time around back on Nov. 13, waiting until late in the third quarter to score their first touchdown in a 27-20 loss in San Francisco.

Osi Umenyiora took a look at how the 49ers smacked around the Saints and was impressed.

“From what I saw against New Orleans, they’re just so hungry. You know what I mean?’’ Umenyiora said. “They think it’s their year, and so far it’s been their year. They’ve beaten most of the people who’ve been put in front of them. We’re just as hungry if not hungrier than them, so it’s gonna be a great game.’’

The Giants want to satiate their hunger with an immediate feeding frenzy. The Packers talented receivers last week dropped passes they normally inhale with ease. It wasn’t stage fright or cold hands, the Giants maintain. It was the cumulative effect of the constant pounding by defensive backs and linebackers from the outset.

“You all watch film, it’s not like they’re wide open every time and they’re just dropping passes,’’ Grant said. “Sometimes they drop a pass and they have a safety or DB right in their face or a linebacker right in their face. Even if you might not have anybody in their face, there might be plays before then when we hit ’em and they might be thinking about that.’’

Now Grant is looking for more of the same tone-setting from his defense.

“We’re gonna set one, we have no choice,’’ he said. “We know they got a hard-nosed defense, but we know they also got a physical offense that likes to run the ball and just play smash-mouth football, so we’re gonna have to go out there and set a tone.’’

Likewise, the Giants offense is looking for its own early knockout blow, and not necessarily in the form of one of those elegant Eli Manning-to-Hakeem Nicks, long-distance scoring connections. Jacobs hopes the Giants do not give up too soon on the ground attack against the league’s top run defense.

“You got to stay with it, be faithful, be patient and sooner or later something’s gonna pop for you,’’ Jacobs said. “I don’t care what the weather’s like, and I really don’t care how physical they are. I’m not afraid of anybody on their team. I’m not afraid of anybody in their organization. I’m ready to play football.’’